Museum of Qin TerraCotta Warriors and Horses

The terra cotta warriors were accidentally discovered by Chinese peasants while digging a well. With government approval, an archaeological team from Shaanxi Province arrived at the site on July 17,1974 and began their explorations.The State Council authorized to build a museum on site in 1975. When completed, people from far and near came to visit. In the last 20 yearsthe Museum of Qin Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses has developed and become the largest on-site museum in China.
The museum covers an area of 16,300 22,780square meters and there are three pits at the museum. they were Pit1, 2 and 3 respectively in order of discovery.

Pit 1
Pit 1 was excavated in 1974. Although much of the site had been looted soon after it was built, archaeologists discovered 6,000 pottery figures.The Pit 1 is in an oblong shape, 230 metres long from east to west, 62 metres wide from north to south and 5 metres deep, covering an area of 114,260 square metres.The warriors and horses of terra cotta in Pit 1 were arranged in precision battle formation. Each soldier was baked in a kiln. In the long corridor to the east end of the pit stand facing east three rows of terra-cotta warriors in battle tunics and puttees, 70 in each, totaling 210 altogether. On the south, north and west of the corridor, three rows of terra-cotta warriors with their heads facing outward. These warriors were dressed and ready for battle. They carried spears and various other combat weapons.The task of the three rows of soldiers is to guard against enemy attacks and outflanking. In the 11 tunnels separated by 10 partitions, there are 38 rows of troops facing east, with chariots in each of the rows. The warriors, armor-clad, holding long-shaft weapons are probably the main body of the formation and represent the principal force.All together, there are 27 test pits, 6000 unearthed terra-cotta warriors in pit 1, most of them were infantrymen.
The south of Pit 1 is a circle vision hall. The movie inside lasts 20 minutes and provides vivid materials for telling the story of Emperor Qin and his Terra-cotta Army 2,200 years ago.

Pit 2
Pit 2, found in 1976, is 20 meters northeast of Pit 1. This pit contains 1,400 warriors with horses. It is 64,000 square feet in area. Pit 2 started to be excavated in March 1994 and was opened in October the same while it was being excavated. This pit contains sixty-four chariots. The battle formation was square. It consists of four different mixed military forces, namely, infantry, cavalry, archers and charioteers. The four forces can be rearranged into one array of troops or four individual small arrays, which either serve as attacking or protecting themselves in a quick response. The facial expressions of the men in this pit are also very different from those men in the first pit.
There are multiple exhibition halls to the east of Pit 2, covering a series of exhibits, such as two sets of bronze chariots and horses, the new findings from the Emperor Qin's Mausoleum, the history of the Museum and all kinds of temporary exhibits. These displays systematically depict the history of the Qin Dynasty from 221 BC-206 BC.

Pit 3
Pit No.3 is located 25 metres to the north of Pit No.1 and to the west of Pit No.2. Pit 3 was opened in 1989. The plane of the pit is of concave shape totaling about 520 square metres. This room is thought to be a group of special commanders.The weapons held by the warriors in Pit 3 were only discovered one kind of weapon called "shu", which had no blades and are believed to be used by the guards of honor.
The halls on the northwest of Pit 3, Which covers 4,282 square meters, are the multiple service halls where the visitors can have meal, do shopping and take a rest.

Xian Tour Routes Covers Terracotta Warriors and Horses
XD-1. Terracotta Army one day tour
XD-3. One day private tour of Terracotta Army and Huaqing Hotspring
XK-1. 2 Days Xian Tour
XK-2. 3 Days Xian Tour
XK-3. Xian 4 Days Tour of Terracotta Warrior
XK-4. Xian 4 days tour of Terracotta Army and Xianyang Terracotta Museum
XK-6. Xian 4 Days Tour of Terracotta Warrior and Mt. Hua
XK-7. Xian 6 Days Private Tour
XH-1. Xian 2 Days Private Tour of Terracotta Warriors
XH-2. Xian 3 Days Package Tour
XH-3. 4 Days Organized Xian Tour of Terracotta Warrior
XH-4. 4 Days Xian Tour of Terracotta Warrior and Qianling Mausoleum
XH-5. 4 Days Xian Private Tour of Terracotta Warrior and Famen Temple
XH-6. 4 Days Xian Tour of Terracotta Warrior and Mt. Huashan
XH-7. 6 Days Xian Complete Tour

Photo of Terracotta Warriors